In an interview (with Jeffrey Toobin) for an article by the
New Yorker, President Obama again voiced his support for marriage equality. But, this time he did not speak only in personal terms (his own personal opinion). He stated that the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution guarantees marriage equality in all fifty states. The article also discusses how his presidency has influenced the federal courts.
From Freedom to Marry:
In a recent interview with The New Yorker, President Obama voiced his support for the freedom to marry in all states in the United States. The article reports that the President said that he believes that the Constitution requires all states to allow marriage between same-sex couples, and that he views the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court to deny review in five cases involving the freedom to marry as a movement in the right direction. He said:
In some ways, the decision that was just handed down to not do anything about what states are doing on same-sex marriage may end up being as consequential—from my perspective, a positive sense—as anything that’s been done.
Ultimately, I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all fifty states. But, as you know, courts have always been strategic. There have been times where the stars were aligned and the Court, like a thunderbolt, issues a ruling like Brown v. Board of Education, but that’s pretty rare. And, given the direction of society, for the Court to have allowed the process to play out the way it has may make the shift less controversial and more lasting.
In the same
New Yorker article is a discussion of how the President has transformed and diversified the federal courts with his appointments. From that article:
The transformation of the D.C. Circuit has been replicated in federal courts around the country. Obama has had two hundred and eighty judges confirmed, which represents about a third of the federal judiciary. Two of his choices, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, were nominated to the Supreme Court; fifty-three were named to the circuit courts of appeals, two hundred and twenty-three to the district courts, and two to the Court of International Trade. When Obama took office, Republican appointees controlled ten of the thirteen circuit courts of appeals; Democratic appointees now constitute a majority in nine circuits. Because federal judges have life tenure, nearly all of Obama’s judges will continue serving well after he leaves office.
Obama’s judicial nominees look different from their predecessors. In an interview in the Oval Office, the President told me, “I think there are some particular groups that historically have been underrepresented—like Latinos and Asian-Americans—that represent a larger and larger portion of the population. And so for them to be able to see folks in robes that look like them is going to be important. When I came into office, I think there was one openly gay judge who had been appointed. We’ve appointed ten.”